Ontario pausing retaliatory measures after tariffs postponed, Doug Ford says

Premier Doug Ford announced new retaliatory measures against the U.S. including the end of a $100M contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the province is pausing a suite of retaliatory measures that it was set to begin implementing following an 11th hour postponement of U.S. tariffs.

“We have some good news today. We have temporarily averted tariffs that would have severely damaged our economy, giving time for more negotiation and time for cooler heads to prevail. Thank you to the countless workers, union leaders, businesses and everyday proud Canadians who rallied together to make this happen,” Ford wrote in a post on X.

“With the U.S. pausing tariffs, Ontario will also pause our retaliatory measures.”

Ontario was set to begin removing U.S. alcohol from LCBO shelves Monday night. Earlier in the day Ford also said that he was ripping up a $100-million deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink for satellite internet service in Northern Ontario.

While Ontario is pausing the measures for now, Ford warned that they could easily be implemented again if tariffs move ahead.

“If President Trump proceeds with tariffs, we won’t hesitate to remove American products off LCBO shelves or ban American companies from provincial procurement,” Ford said.

The about-face comes after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a post on X Monday afternoon that he had negotiated a 30-day postponement of the tariffs that U.S. President Donald Trump was set to impose on Canada Feb. 4.

Trudeau said the tariffs would be postponed “at least 30 days” as a set of joint measures around fentanyl and the border are implemented.

“Canada is making new commitments to appoint a Fentanyl Czar, we will list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the border, launch a Canada- U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering,” Trudeau wrote on X. “I have also signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl and we will be backing it with $200 million.”

Ontario Starlink deal will continue for now

Provincial officials confirmed that the pause in retaliatory measures means the Starlink deal with Musk will go ahead for now.

Ford had threatened earlier in the day that the cancellation of the Starlink deal would be just one of many moves the province would take to cut American companies out of provincial contracts.

“That’s just one step, and there’s many more coming,” Ford said in his capacity as premier during a campaign stop in Etobicoke. “You know, that’s a small, small drop in the bucket, the $100 million. It sends a message to President Trump, but there’s many more.”

Ford, who called a snap election last week, said Ontario will not do business with “people hellbent on destroying” the provincial economy and added that the decision to scrap the Starlink deal was a direct result of Trump’s tax.

“President Trump is the only person to be blamed. Maybe Elon Musk can call his buddy. This is one of the ramifications,” he said.

The Starlink agreement was inked back in November and is meant to bring internet access to 15,000 people in rural communities across the province.

Musk, who owns Starlink through his tech company, SpaceX, and heads Trump’s newly-minted Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), responded to Ford’s announcement with a shrug.

“Oh well,” wrote the world’s richest man in a post to X, which he also owns.

Ford said Ontario hasn’t “paid a penny” to Starlink and stated that if Musk were to take the province to court over the cancellation of the deal, his government is prepared.

“We didn’t break the rules of our agreement, the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) deal, they did. I never believe in starting a fight, but I believe in winning the fight,” he said.

Trump signed an executive order Saturday to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods and a 10 per cent tariff on Canadian oil, natural gas and electricity starting Tuesday. Trudeau said the same day that Canada would impose its own tariffs in retaliation, including a 25 per cent levy on $155 billion worth of American-made goods, like alcohol and fruit.

According to the province, Ontario and its agencies spend $30 billion every year on government procurement, which is money Ford said U.S.-based businesses would lose out on in a trade war.

“I don’t care if it’s a cracker or a toothpick; we’re going to do everything we can, within that realm, to manufacture it, if we don’t have it, or to purchase it from an Ontario-made company,” Ford said.

He’s previously said Trump’s move could cost 500,000 Ontario jobs.

Last week, Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie called on Ford to cancel the contract with Starlink, calling it a “sweetheart deal.”

“We’re happy Doug has finally listened to Bonnie and ripped up the bad Starlink deal and is finally putting Ontario first,” a spokesperson said in a statement issued after Ford’s initial announcement. “But we can’t help but wonder: What other shady deals has he signed with the super-rich?”

Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner also said Monday that the Starlink deal was a bad sole-source contract.

“He should have never done the deal in the first place, and he should have never called this election in the first place,” Schreiner said.

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said Ontario should be made “tariff-poof” even if the Trump tariffs are delayed or cancelled.

“We can’t change the fact that the premier has thrown us into an election. But we can use this time to regroup as Team Canada and get to work building a more tariff-proof Ontario,” Stiles said in a post on X Monday evening. “We need to defend every single job and be ready to fight back. We need to invest in workers, Buy Ontario and help our industries find new markets, so we aren’t so vulnerable in the future.”

Amid the threat of a trade war, Ontarians will head to the polls for an early election on Feb. 27. Crombie, along with Stiles and Schreiner, have decried the snap election as unnecessary, but Ford has argued he needs a new mandate to navigate Trump’s second term.

Ford calls Trump administration ‘a disaster’

After saying he was optimistic about Trump returning to the White House following his victory in the U.S. election, Ford struck a very different tone on Monday.

“It’s been a disaster. I’d never support that guy in my entire life. He goes up and just stabs you right in the heart. Forget that,” Ford said.

The tariffs were also imposed on Mexico, but President Claudia Sheinbaum said they have since been paused for one month as well.

The president spoke to reporters from the Oval Office on Monday afternoon and said Sheinbaum had agreed to send 10,000 soldiers to the border “permanently” to address drug trafficking and illegal migration.

Following the announcement that the tariffs on Canada would be paused, Ford said the province must remain vigilant.

“Make no mistake, Canada and Ontario continue to stare down the threat of tariffs. Whether it’s tomorrow, in a month or a year from now when we’re renegotiating the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, President Trump will continue to use the threat of tariffs to get what he wants,” Ford wrote.

“We’re already feeling the impact. So long as our trading relationship with our largest trading partner is up in the air, we will continue to see many potential projects frozen and projects that were already under way put at risk.”

He reiterated that the “real trade war we’re fighting” is with China and said the U.S. and Canada can only win by working together instead of fighting each other.